Additional Information

This is the fourth issue in a three-year, six coin series highlighting some of the most prized art masterpieces housed in France’s museums and historical monuments.

The Kiss (Le Baiser) is an 1882 marble sculpture by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840 -1917). The embracing nude couple depicted in the sculpture originally represented Paolo and Francesca, two characters borrowed from Dante’s Divine Comedy. They appeared originally as part of a group of reliefs decorating Rodin's monumental bronze portal The Gates of Hell. The couple were later removed from the Gates and replaced with another pair of lovers.

Rodin transformed the couple into an independent work and exhibited it in 1887. The fluid, smooth modeling, the very dynamic composition and the charming theme made this group an instant success. Since no anecdotal detail identified the lovers, the public called it The Kiss, an abstract title that expressed its universal character very well. In 1888, the French state commissioned an enlarged version in marble, which Rodin took nearly ten years to deliver. In 1919 the sculpture was finally transferred to Musee Rodin.